Show Review: International Women’s Day

0

Saskatoon’s CFCR raises $1600 for Elizabeth Fry Society

On Thursday March 8th – designated globally as International Women’s Day – volunteers and staff from CFCR 90.5 FM celebrated women the best way they knew how: with a night filled with arts and music. Historically, this day is set aside to honour women and their important place in society.

A large crowd gathered at the Bassment that evening to enjoy performances from some talented female Saskatonians. The diverse line-up included poet Nicole Almond, Ariel and Sean Grant, Kaitlin Heather Lauren and the Seahags.

Jay Allen, CFCR’s Program Director, said it was an idea that he’d been planning on doing for some time.

I thought it would be fun to put on an event that really showcases the great female talent Saskatoon has to offer”

“I’ve been thinking of putting on an event for International Women’s Day for a couple of years,” said Allen. “CFCR has an amazing feminist radio show called The Laundry List that airs each week and I’m married to an amazing female, so I thought it would be fun to put on an event that really showcases the great female talent Saskatoon has to offer. We get such great support from the community in Saskatoon, so we like to put events on for people whenever we can. Sometimes they take shape as a free film or music event, but in this case, I wanted to financially benefit a women’s non-profit organization in Saskatoon.”

Allen said there was a lot of positive feedback and a great atmosphere, thanks to many factors.

“I was really happy about how the event went,” he noted. “The Bassment is a really beautiful live venue, especially for the ‘listeners’ acts. It was great to hear poet Nicole Almond perform in a place where you could hear every word perfectly. I was really impressed at how well everything came together, from the performers to our MC and CFCR host Tracy Ridalls, to the volunteers. I think everyone had a great time.”

There was inevitably a plethora of organizations that CFCR could have raised funds for, but they decided on supporting the Elizabeth Fry Society, which according to the CFCR website is “an organization that responds to the needs of women in prison, and develops community services and lobbies on their behalf.”

Allen said that the idea to have the funds go to the Elizabeth Fry Society came from a few places.

“We wanted to support an organization that was a local women’s charity,” he said. “There are some direct connections between the Elizabeth Fry Society of Saskatchewan and CFCR, as our Volunteer Coordinator and one of our volunteer hosts works or has worked for them. They knew the mandate of the society and it was right in line with what we were looking for.”

The endeavour was successful, as exactly $1600 was raised for the cause. Allen said it was a great time and hopes that this event is an ongoing trend.

“I’d just like to thank everyone involved who helped make the event happen so successfully,” he said. “I hope we can put on another one next year!”